Mirror KB Articles
about horses & horse care

by Kim and Kari Baker

Cow Savvy: Introducing a your Horse to Cows

Mirror KB Equine Article Series

Making of a Cow Horse

Kim and Kari Baker

Over a hundred years ago horses proved to be
well worth their keep when gathering and trailing cattle on the open range. In
fact, getting a herd of wild cattle to market in those days took a top hand
mounted on a horse with plenty of savvy, cow savvy that is.

Now you might think that horses and cows go
together like peanut butter and jelly, but that isn’t necessarily so. Truth be
told, most horses today have never been exposed to cattle, so have a tendency to
react toward cows more like water does to oil.

The good news is, “The way the horse reacts at
first doesn’t have much to do with the way they end up being,” says C.L.
Collins, ranch manager of Twenty Two Ranch in Harrison, Arkansas. “Making a cow
horse is a very long process and they will have plenty of time to make changes
in their attitude toward cattle.”

While all horses are not equal in natural
cow sense, practically any horse, on some level, can be trained to work with
cows. “Any horse can be used to work cows, but some horses never get cow
savvy,” says Collins. All in all, it’s the trainer’s job to help his horse
develop into as good a cow horse as possible.

Just as anything else in training, introducing your
horse to cattle and developing in him the ability to work cows is a step-by-step
process.

Before introducing your horse to cattle, your horse
should have a pretty good handle of the basics. “The horse needs to move and
stop on command without hesitation and without resistance,” says Collins.
“But, I think lots of horses do very well if they learn to be a broke horse
while working cattle. The cow gives them a reason to stop and turn. For this
reason I like to start working with a horse around cattle as soon as the horse
is green broke well enough to take him to where the cattle are. A horse that is
too well trained might have the tendency to wait for the rider’s cue rather than
respond to the cow on it’s own.”

However, the average horse owner might find broader
success if they start with a well broke horse that responds well to both rein
and leg pressure at the walk, trot, and lope, but more importantly have a good
stop on him.

Horse, Meet Cow

Some horses are curious and will actually want to
approach the strange animal while others have an earnest desire to get as far
away from them as possible. Since you may not know how your horse will react to
cows, the best way to introduce them to him is in a safe manner, possibly where
you can to some degree, control his reaction.

One method might be to turn your horse loose in an
arena or pen with a single cow and let him become acquainted with the cow on his
own. However, in this situation you have very little control on how your horse
handles the introduction.

Riding in a pasture with a herd of cows is one way
to introduce your horse to cows. Depending on how comfortable, or
uncomfortable, your horse is when in a herd of cows will govern just how close
you’ll be able to ride to the cows in the beginning.

“Your goal when introducing your horse to cattle
is a horse that is calm and comfortable around cows. A nervous horse doesn’t
learn much,” says Collins. Giving your nervous horse something else to think
about while riding in the pasture will help.

To keep up with, and eventually controlling, a wily
ole cow your horse will need to be supple both laterally and horizontally, so
this is a good time to work at relaxing his poll and loosening up his
shoulders. Your warm up should also include executing smooth transitions
between all three gaits as well as stops, turns, and leg yields.

Warning. Be cautious when working your horse in a
pasture. Grazing land, unlike an arena, may have many concealed hazards, so
carefully check the terrain for rodent holes, parts of old farm equipment, and
old wire fences hidden in the grass, before you begin working your horse.

In the beginning, your horse may be troubled with
the presence of the cows and will give less of his attention to you than he does
the cattle. This is fine, for it gives you the opportunity to draw his
attention back to what you want. Each time his attention wanders, bring it back
by asking for a change in direction or speed.

“If the horse is nervous, I often turn him around,
maybe once, maybe ten times,” says Collins. “I’ll do it until the horse is
relaxed and paying attention to what I’m telling him instead of what he was
nervous about.”

As you continue working with your horse, you’ll be
able to slowly close the gap until you’re able to ride near the herd without
your horse feeling troubled and losing his concentration on what you want.

What if you don’t have access to a pasture of
cows? Another approach to introducing your horse to cows would be to use a
system of pens or an arena. “Because cattle tend to stop in corners, the best
pens to work with cattle are round,” says Collins. “I have used pens as small
as 80 feet and as big as 180 feet, but my favorite size, if I am alone in the
pen, would be 100 feet. If another rider is in the pen with me then a good size
would be 120 to 150 feet.”

Keep in mind that the smaller the pen the more
pressure there will be on the cow, thus that same pressure will transmit to the
horse. “For this reason, a larger pen is better for either an inexperienced
horse or an inexperienced rider,” explains Collins.

Start out by placing a group of cows in a small
enclosure at one end of a pen where your horse can easily see them, then ride
your horse into the larger pen, at the opposite end from the cows, and begin by
warming him up, such as was suggested when working in the pasture scenario.
When your horse is able to hold his concentration on you while riding along the
fence where the cows are held it’s time to go, one on one with a cow.

Building Cow Interest

At this point you’ll actually want your horse to
hold his attention on the cow rather than you. You are merely along for the
ride and to encourage your horse to watch and follow a cow.

If you are riding in a pasture, you may have a
tougher time pursuing a single cow, since cows have a tendency to bunch together
when they feel light pressure from a horse and rider. In the pen situation,
you’ll find it easier to turn a lone cow into the large pen and will therefore
be able to concentrate on your task.

Whether riding in a pasture or a pen, your
objective for this training session is to build the desire in your horse to
watch a cow and move when she does.

To do this, ride your horse forward until the cow
feels just enough pressure to move off then direct your horse to follow. At
this point in building cow interest in your horse, the cow will determine the
direction of travel, while you will simply direct your horse to follow.

When the cow stops rein your horse to a stop and
allow your horse to watch the cow for a few moments. If your horse looks away
from the cow, use the direct rein and pull his head back in the direction of the
cow. In this instance, the direct rein is the rein closest to the cow. When
the cow moves, ask your horse to again, “trail” the cow.

Continue this line of guidance until your horse
begins to acknowledge the cow on his own. In other words, your horse begins to
“move with the cow” with fewer and fewer directional aids from you.

Controlling the Cow

Once your horse
is trailing the cow well on his own it’s time to begin taking control of the
cow, it’s direction of travel and speed. Begin by tracking the cow, that is,
ride parallel to the cow rather than behind it.

As before, walk your horse into the cow to get it
moving along the fence, then rein your horse to move up parallel with the cow.
If the horse tries to slow down in order to slip back behind the cow as he did
when “trailing “ you’ll have to cue him with your direct leg, the leg closest to
the cow, in order to hold him in position, as well as put enough forward
pressure on him to maintain speed.

Tracking can be
performed at varying distances from the cow. The closer you ride to the cow the
more pressure you place on the cow which will then take action by either
speeding up, or it will stop and change directions. In other words, the cow’s
movement all depends on your horse’s relative position to it. This is where
your own cow smarts comes into play. (See Cow Savvy sidebar)

A position behind the cow’s eye will initiate
forward movement. On the other hand, riding toward the front of the cow’s head
will challenge the cow and cause it to turn or stop. But how do we hold a cow?

“The surest way to hold
a cow is to take the pressure off of the cow,” explains Collins. “The cow moves
because the horse is closer to her than she feels comfortable with. If we want
a cow to stop, we put more distance between her and the horse. How much
distance depends on the individual cow and her
own comfort zone. Often, we can do this and still maintain a position
that allows us to control the cow.”

Working a
Herd

If you’ve been
riding in a pasture of cows your horse is slightly ahead of the game, but if
you’ve been using the pen system and your horse has gained sufficient experience
and confidence with a single cow, it’s time to introduce him to a herd. While
your horse may have been comfortable, one on one with a cow, a herd of cows may
intimidate him.

Bring a small
herd of cows into the training pen and start by riding, at a walk, in a wide
circle around them. When your horse appears relaxed with this, step him closer
to the herd in increasingly smaller circles. Next rein your horse into and
through the middle of the herd. Try to split the herd into two equal herds, by
continuing to walk straight through the herd and out the other side.

Circle the herd
once more to bring the cattle back together, then rein your horse back through
the center again. Continue this exercise until your horse is completely
comfortable moving through the herd.

As your horse progresses, ride through the center
of the herd as before, but this time stop your horse in the middle for a few
moments before proceeding to the opposite side. Next time you might try peeling
a single cow from the herd then keep it separated from the herd by tracking her
around the pen.

Remember that introducing your horse to cattle
should be a pleasant experience for your horse. In order to build your horse’s
confidence and interest, start slow. Once your horse realizes that he can
actually control the actions of a cow, he’ll become an enthusiastic partner in
the thrilling dance of the working cow horse.

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